Rebels to catch break(s) in 2011
The Mountain West Conference figured one open week wasn’t enough next football season.
So the league gave UNLV two byes — and within a span of four Saturdays.
“It’s a little different,” Rebels coach Bobby Hauck said after the schedule was released Thursday. “You control what you can control, and we’ll adapt and handle our schedule as best we can.”
The Rebels have open weeks Oct. 1 and 22, which also forces them to play into December for the second season in a row. But the conference, for the first time in what will be its 13-year history, is extending play that long for most of its member teams.
Hauck wasn’t happy when last season’s 13-game schedule ended Dec. 4 at Hawaii and cost the staff valuable time on the recruiting trail.
Next season ends Dec. 3 at Texas Christian in the Horned Frogs’ final Mountain West game before they bolt to the Big East Conference.
“It worked out all right (last season) in recruiting,” Hauck said. “Certainly, the window of open recruiting dates is fairly small, especially when we’re late in recruiting, like when we tend to be.”
Hauck said that could turn into a positive because coaches can recruit in talent-rich Texas after playing TCU.
UNLV won’t play a schedule that was as demanding as last year’s, which was rated the third-most difficult among non-Bowl Championship Series schools since the BCS was formed in 1998. That schedule included nonconference games against bowl teams Wisconsin, West Virginia, UNR and Hawaii.
That’s not to say next season’s schedule is a breeze. The Rebels open Sept. 3 at Wisconsin, host Boise State on Nov. 5 and play the finale at TCU.
TCU finished last season ranked second, Wisconsin seventh and Boise State ninth. Plus, the Rebels play at rival UNR, which was 11th, on Oct. 8.
There is some hope, however.
Washington State could be the Pacific-10 Conference’s worst team, Southern Utah should be almost a guaranteed victory, and UNR suffers major losses such as quarterback Colin Kaepernick and running back Vai Taua.
But for a program that hasn’t had a winning season since 2000 and is coming off a 2-11 record, nothing can be assumed. And the Rebels face a schedule that includes seven road games.
“Frankly, the two open dates aren’t the hard part,” Hauck said. “It’s playing three top-10 teams and going on the road seven times. Those are the issues we’ve got to address.”
Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914.
